(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer-readable recording medium storing a print image generating program and a print image generating method, and more particularly to a computer-readable recording medium storing a print image generating program and a print image generating method, which are capable of adding to printed documents such information as to discourage intentional or accidental distribution of the printed documents.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there are demands for preventing leaks of information stored in computers. A firewall installed on a network can prevent data leaks that are caused due to unauthorized external accesses. However, techniques including firewalls cannot deter or prevent internal users from fraudulently distributing data.
In order to prevent internal users from fraudulent distribution of the data, there is a method of encrypting data before being saved in a system, for example. The encryption technique allows encrypted data to be decrypted within the internal system only, but not in external systems. Thereby, the electronic data of information within a system can be prevented from being fraudulently distributed.
However, confidential data may be printed on papers in the internal system and the papers may be fraudulently taken out. In general, a “for internal use only” message or the like is printed on confidential printed documents, which discourages and prevents inadvertent distribution of the printed documents. In addition, there are known methods of printing the name of a person on his/her prints and of embedding watermark information in confidential data in an invisible manner, so as to specify the source of leaks of confidential documents (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-78006).
However, there is a drawback that not all printers but only dedicated (specified) printers should be used for the above security printing.